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> Samsung TVs on sale at 100% off at your local Target doesn't have the same moral weight to it I kinda disagree with this. If it were a local retailer run by

> Samsung TVs on sale at 100% off at your local Target doesn't have the same moral weight to it I kinda disagree with this. If it were a local retailer run by your neighbors, you’d be absolutely correct. But if you’re talking about Target, you’re now in the territory of a system of economic oppression where money is siphoned out of local communities by large multinational corporations and the actual residents have no ownership over anything. During the 2020 riots, there were definitely some people trying to make the point, “we have no ownership of our own neighborhoods.” I can see many people, especially black Americans, feeling all but imprisoned by the fact that they can’t afford to own property, can’t run the businesses that serve their community and are at the mercy of white people who move in and gentrify the neighborhoods forcing them to find new, less desirable places to live. The police who are the immediate focus of protests become merely the jailers in a systemic prison of which Target and other large retailers play a huge part.

justanother 5y ago
I'm probably going too far from the original point since Target was only cited as a hypothetical example, but Target has some of the country's largest and most capable crime labs. I mention this as an example of how large corporate entities can be enthusiastic participants in the police state.
AnimalMuppet 5y ago
> But if you’re talking about Target, you’re now in the territory of a system of economic oppression where money is siphoned out of local communities by large multinational corporations and the actual residents have no ownership over anything. Wow, are you using loaded language. Say the Target wasn't there. The people of the neighborhood are still going to want to buy things. Without the Target, there might be locally-owned mom-and-pop businesses. Target takes the profits out of the neighborhood. All that is true. But Target drove those businesses out by selling stuff for less money. So your solution is that the people of the neighborhood have to spend more in order that some people of the neighborhood can have the profits. And you call Target a system of economic oppression and a money siphon. Yeah, I'm not buying it.
- Volundr 5y ago
  I'm not sure it's as black and white as you make it out to be. Many things are cheaper from various other countries, yet we are encouraged to "buy American" because it's generally understood that keeping that money in the country is better for everyone in than long run than sending it to some 3rd world country where labor goes for pennies. We are also often encouraged to "buy local" rather than go out of State, town, etc for similar reasons. The idea that keeping that money in the community might benefit the community, including the purchaser, more in the long run than saving a few bucks doesn't seem that crazy to me.
karaterobot 5y ago
> During the 2020 riots, there were definitely some people trying to make the point, “we have no ownership of our own neighborhoods.” Another reason why riots are not helpful is that it's impossible to know whether someone is breaking a window to make a statement about police violence, institutional racism, capitalist oppression, or because nobody can stop them from breaking a window right now. It's not an eloquent means of expression, and the message will never be received as the author intended.

justanother 5y ago

I'm probably going too far from the original point since Target was only cited as a hypothetical example, but Target has some of the country's largest and most capable crime labs. I mention this as an example of how large corporate entities can be enthusiastic participants in the police state.

AnimalMuppet 5y ago

> But if you’re talking about Target, you’re now in the territory of a system of economic oppression where money is siphoned out of local communities by large multinational corporations and the actual residents have no ownership over anything. Wow, are you using loaded language. Say the Target wasn't there. The people of the neighborhood are still going to want to buy things. Without the Target, there might be locally-owned mom-and-pop businesses. Target takes the profits out of the neighborhood. All that is true. But Target drove those businesses out by selling stuff for less money. So your solution is that the people of the neighborhood have to spend more in order that some people of the neighborhood can have the profits. And you call Target a system of economic oppression and a money siphon. Yeah, I'm not buying it.

Volundr 5y ago
I'm not sure it's as black and white as you make it out to be. Many things are cheaper from various other countries, yet we are encouraged to "buy American" because it's generally understood that keeping that money in the country is better for everyone in than long run than sending it to some 3rd world country where labor goes for pennies. We are also often encouraged to "buy local" rather than go out of State, town, etc for similar reasons. The idea that keeping that money in the community might benefit the community, including the purchaser, more in the long run than saving a few bucks doesn't seem that crazy to me.

karaterobot 5y ago

> During the 2020 riots, there were definitely some people trying to make the point, “we have no ownership of our own neighborhoods.” Another reason why riots are not helpful is that it's impossible to know whether someone is breaking a window to make a statement about police violence, institutional racism, capitalist oppression, or because nobody can stop them from breaking a window right now. It's not an eloquent means of expression, and the message will never be received as the author intended.